Something about this just seems mean spirited to me. I guess it is authentic in terms of the kind of ridiculously emotional hype that start ups tend to do these days, but somehow that tone doesn't mix well with the dry viral con.<p>It's sort of a clash of marketing techniques. The inspirational "we finally live in the future" thing works because it gets people really psyched to have a product. The viral marketing scam thing works because people are good-natured about being tricked if the trick is executed well (the same reason people can enjoy magicians).<p>But I don't think you can mix those. People are going to be less good-natured about being promised hoverboards <i>again</i> and then finding out that there will be no hoverboards <i>again</i>.
I found the actor that plays the lead engineer in the video. <a href="http://nelsoncheng.com/acting" rel="nofollow">http://nelsoncheng.com/acting</a>
I think this might be a viral advert for the next Back To The Future movie. A film studio would have access to special effects, the car, the actors and celebrities and the financial backing for such an elaborate fake.
It really is depressing to me that people are OK with getting paid to flat out lie. I guess I'm less surprised it's celebrities, but still, it's sad.
From their T&Cs (
<a href="http://huvrtech.com/legal.html" rel="nofollow">http://huvrtech.com/legal.html</a>):<p>"The inclusion of any products or services on this website at a particular time does not imply or warrant that these products or services will be available at any time."<p>Just in case anyone thinks this is a real product.
I would like to see a startup sell the wiring equipment that allows you to perform the hovering tricks featured in this video. I bet it's really fun to fly around on one of those harnesses, even if it doesn't use magical anti-gravity technology.
If this is promoting new Back To The Future content, I think a video game makes much more sense than a movie, since the actors are getting old but their voices can still adapt.<p>For those unaware, this has been done once already via TellTale's Back To The Future: The Game (<a href="http://www.telltalegames.com/backtothefuture/" rel="nofollow">http://www.telltalegames.com/backtothefuture/</a>) which offers interesting story and featured many of the original actors' voices and takes place a few months after the original movies. (If you don't want to buy it, you can also watch a playthrough on YouTube.)
What would be required to make a real hover board? I assume that first off it would need to be a bit larger. And some kind of control mechanism, maybe near the toe area? But as for the actual tech, is it even remotely possible?
The reason I know this is fake: I'm 200lbs, and this thing has a max capacity of 180lbs. And I sure as hell know that I weight less than Terrell Owens.
Damnit gravity. You can be so cruel. When you're not crashing airplanes and killing unlucky thrillseekers, you're dashing my hoverboard hopes.<p>Seriously though, this has to be for a new Tony Hawk video game, and Moby probably did some music for it. Not sure what Terrell Owens is doing there.
You can see in this video <a href="http://snip.ps/cDFL" rel="nofollow">http://snip.ps/cDFL</a> that the riders are centering their gravity, they are all athletes so naturally they make it look easy.